Tuesday, December 5, 2023
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Simon Fraser’s Devin O’Hea leads nine total GNAC selections to the 2023 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Men’s All-West Region team as the conference’s lone first-team honoree.

The all-west region recognition is O’Hea’s second of the year after being named to the D2CCA all-region team on Nov. 28. The senior from North Vancouver, B.C., was among four forwards named to the team and was an instrumental player in leading the Red Leafs to their first GNAC championship since 2018.

O’Hea tallied at least one point in 10 of 11 conference matches this season, including a seven-match goal-scoring streak that lasted from Sept. 29. to Oct. 26. He finished the season with 27 points courtesy of nine goals and nine assists and was voted by conference coaches as the GNAC Player of the Year for his efforts.

The second team features a pair of honorees from the conference in GNAC Freshman of the Year Michael Hennessy and Western Oregon junior forward Gabriel Silva. Hennessy was one of the best freshmen in the GNAC this season, ranking second in the conference with 29 points for the Red Leafs en route to the title. The Vancouver, B.C., native proved to be a prolific goal-scorer in his debut season, finding the back of the net 13 times, including a five-goal match on Oct. 19. That performance marked just the third time in GNAC history that a player has scored four or more goals in one game and the first time in GNAC play.

Silva was a unanimous first team all-GNAC selection after leading the Wolves to their best conference finish in their young history. The Sao Luis, Brazil native led Western Oregon with 21 points on nine goals and three assists to rank fifth in the GNAC.

A total of six GNAC players were named to the third team, highlighted by a trio of representatives from Western Washington in senior goalkeeper Brandon Locke, senior defender Mitchell Hutter and sophomore forward Albin Jonsson. Western Oregon freshman midfielder Yahir Ocampo also earned third-team honors alongside Simon Fraser senior midfielder Ali Zohar and GNAC Newcomer of the Year Raymundo Mendez from Seattle Pacific.

Simon Fraser and Western Washington led all GNAC teams with three selections apiece between all three teams, followed by Western Oregon with two and Seattle Pacific with one. The 2023 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Men’s All-America team will be released on Thursday, Dec. 7.